


memories; (ride)

by aquaticflames



Series: sunset firefly [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), fluff? i wrote fluff? what's happening, horse riding, sky's nervous but he's got spirit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:15:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28854918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquaticflames/pseuds/aquaticflames
Summary: “The idea is to maintain a steady grip on the mane, but build a rapport with them pretty quickly.” Wild balanced his centre of gravity precisely, keeping his weight steady.“So you’re trying to get her to trust you, basically?” Sky whispered.“Yeah, basically. Watch me carefully.”
Relationships: Sky & Wild (Linked Universe)
Series: sunset firefly [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115921
Comments: 11
Kudos: 186





	memories; (ride)

The plains of Hyrule never were exactly quiet. Silent? _Hylia_ no. The thought was laughable. But perhaps the closest they ever got to true stillness amongst the land was out on Hyrule Field, in Wild’s era. Close enough to sea-level but far enough inland that the wind never picked up much outside of the occasional storm. Trees were generally sparse to the field’s south, causing wildlife to flock toward the flora of Necluda, and the western ridge for cover.

It generally helped that every town in the area lay in ruins, too. That was... probably a big part of it.

Sky virtually never had the chance to properly appreciate the quiet. Even if Skyloft wasn't home to such a vibrant and lively community of people, the rushing high-altitude winds certainly made for impressive background noise that everyone managed to tune out with the time spent living there. But the second you tried to seek out peace and quiet, it was _more_ than noticeable. 

Now though, the quiet was all-encompassing. Even the odd cricket, the snuffle of a grazing horse or a light evening breeze barely disturbed the peace - and as far south as they were, with Lake Kolomo in sight, they didn’t even have to worry much about the guardians further north.

The hush was only broken when his friend spoke up from right beside him, where the pair of them were crouched low in the long sunset-dappled grass.

“The idea is to maintain a steady grip on the mane, but build a rapport with them pretty quickly.” The Hero of the Wild pointed out towards one of the three horses quietly grazing a good 20 yards away. A beautiful chestnut-coloured mare. “-And you’ll want to stay low in the grass like this, right up until you try to mount her.” Wild demonstrated, balancing his centre of gravity precisely between the balls of his feet, keeping his weight steady.

“So you’re trying to get her to trust you, basically?” Sky couldn’t help but whisper. Breaking the quiet felt like disrupting something sacred. 

“Yeah, basically. Watch me carefully.”

The boy immediately crept forwards, astounding Sky with how little noise he made as he closed the distance between himself at the wild steed. Not once did the champion glance back, his focus honed in and totally unwavering. It was almost scary, how soundless he was managing to be. 

Sky could _properly_ appreciate the skill required for a livelihood reliant on hunting now.

Wild was then only a couple metres from the horse, having maintained his silence the whole way over. Sky felt compelled to hold his breath in anticipation, watching Wild nervously; Horses were powerful creatures, easily capable of breaking ribs and leaving you bruised and battered in the dirt. But he also trusted Wild, knew he was capable. He’d seen the various steeds Wild seemed to own, and the way he treated each one with such love and respect, always so caring and adoring. Sky knew he’d be fine.

Still, when the grass rustled suddenly and Wild shot out from amongst the brush, Sky _jumped_. It didn’t matter how much noise he was now making - the silence was thoroughly broken. 

Stamping hooves sent clods of earth flinging out in every direction. Whinnies and neighs rang through the air like a foghorn, and the startled gallop of the other horses - now swiftly retreating from the scene - could _just_ about be heard over the racket coming from the standoff between rider and steed.

Wild was clinging on for dear life, knees braced around a powerful chestnut flank while his right hand maintained an iron grip in a long, sandy-coloured mane. His left hand was busy firmly patting the horse’s neck, over and over again. Somewhere between commanding and reassuring.

Then as quickly as it had begun, the neighs were replaced by disgruntled snorts, the mud stopped flying, and Sky could hear Wild’s heaving breaths. 

The boy grinned at him, stroking the glossy mane and whispering a soothing word to the horse before sending Sky a crooked grin and a thumbs up.

Sky stood up, a relieved smile of his own forming and the ache in his knees - from being crouched for so long - beginning to recede. “That was _incredible_ , Wild.”

“Thanks!” His grin turned sheepish, and Wild carefully directed the horse to meet Sky halfway. “Here, you can feed her an apple if you’d like. Fastest way to a horse’s heart is through her stomach.”

Accepting the apple graciously, the Skyloftian tried to smother a laugh when the new steed ate it whole after only a second of careful appraisal. Clearly, Wild knew what he was talking about.

“Wanna ride her?” Wild said suddenly, and Sky snapped his head up to stare at the boy.

“M-Me? I’ve never- We _obviously_ don’t have horses on Skyloft, so I-”

“Don’t worry,” Wild carefully slid off the horse’s back and patted her flank, rubbing her short hair in soothing circles. “I won’t pressure you to ride her if you don’t want to, but there’s always a first time for everything.”

“You’re not wrong. Everyone’s first loftwing ride is pretty nerve-wracking, I guess.”

“Exactly. And at least with a horse, you only have a few feet to fall, not fifty-thousand.”

Wild quickly warmed him up to the idea of giving it a go, and after promising to give Sky a leg up so he wouldn’t be intimidated by the height of the creature, he took and deep breath and began bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, shaking his arms to shed his nerves.

“Alright. Let’s give this a go.”

Wild took a second to interlock his fingers and brace them against his knee, nodding in an open invitation to his friend. The horse really was offering them an immense amount of patience. The thought soothed him slightly.

Sky placed his foot into Wild’s grip, and tried to center his weight with one hand steadied against the stallion’s flank, his other braced against Wild’s shoulder. In one fluid moment on the count of three, Wild hefted him up - surprisingly deft for someone supporting the full weight of another man - and Sky swung his leg over her back. She whinnied and huffed, and for a heart-stopping moment Sky thought he was going to lose his balance and teeter off her to one side. But he clung to her mane and kept his knees firmly locked, and gradually she settled, accepting a congratulatory apple from Wild as the boy cheered enthusiastically.

Sky breathed, disbelieving and elated. It came out choppy and ragged, but still. He was on _cloud nine_.

“She likes you,” Wild chuckled, fond eyes positively glittering. “You’re a natural.”

“The skills needed to ride a loftwing probably translate to some degree,” He admitted, feeling slightly foolish for how nervous he’d been a few minutes ago; But even that couldn’t knock the grin off his face. He patted her neck, soothing her just like Wild had, and they talked through trotting techniques and maintaining a gallop. 

“Thanks for teaching me,” Sky said, once they were walking back up Whistling Hill towards camp and its thin plume of smoke coiling into the sky. The others had clearly decided to get a fire going, ready for dinner preparations to begin. “-I had a lot of fun.”

“So did I. I’ve never been able to teach someone how to ride before.” Wild’s face, which was relaxed only minutes ago, gained a sharp edge to it as they passed into the shade of the hill’s trees. Perhaps it was the lighting, because no sooner had the bittersweet look appeared, it was gone. Replaced by something more… accepting? Sky really couldn't be sure.

“Not... recently, anyway. It’s nice to have a second chance at these things.”

o~O~o

Despite the two boys being visible from not far off, two silhouettes against the gorgeous sunset, not a word of their chatter or melodic laughter could be heard from such a distance. That didn’t matter though. Time had the view, he had the birds chirping slightly overhead, and he could see the outlines of Sky and Wild relaxing on the plains below. The downward slope gave him a perfect view of it all, and for the first time in a while he allowed himself to just sit and watch them, taking in the sight of their early evening efforts from afar.

The underbrush behind him - disturbed by measured footsteps - rustled as one of their number came to join him. They came to a halt beside where he sat reclined at the base of a tree, and let out a breath of amused laughter, watching the boys too.

“He’s something else, that boy.” Time looked up at his own protege to find Twilight leant up against the same tree, arms crossed. He returned his gaze to the field just in time to see the shorter of the two silhouettes swing up onto one of the horses and soothe it down from its rearing defence. It was an impressive display of strength and dexterity, that was to be sure.

"Indeed," He could see Sky clapping and cheering, even from this distance, excitement visible in his outline when he was allowed to feed the creature. 

"I'm glad he's making new memories. Proper ones, that he can put a time to - or a recognisable face."

Time nodded after humming his agreement, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in through his nose. Twilight settled in beside him, cross-legged, and lay back on the grass. Something about _this_ , about them being together. About the time shared, and - as Twilight has put it - about the new memories being made. It was healing. 

When he opened his eye again, Sky was atop the horse, and Wild was leaping up and down, arms flailing in victory. 

Time smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments are always appreciated. ♡
> 
> wild: "I’ve never been able to teach someone how to ride before, I had fun" :D  
> me: (remembering that one memory where zelda compliments his horse-riding advice) _o u c h_


End file.
